Manifolding



y 1, 1934- c. w. BRENN 1,957,405

MANIFOLDING I Filed Jan. 28, 1929 INVENTOR.

I Carl WBremz,

Patented May l, 1934 MANIFOLDING Carl W. Brenn, Montclair, N. J assig'nor to Autographic Register Company, Hoboken, N. J., a

company of New Jersey Application January 28,

1929, Serial No. 335,402

9 Claims. (01. 197-426) This invention relates to manifolding, andis particularly applicable to typewriters, manifolding registers and other manifolding machines.

In the art of manifolding, it is frequently desired to simultaneously feed worksheets and carbonsheets which are of indefinite length, so that the writing process might be continuous. In such work, to keep the several superposed strips in register longitudinally and transversely, it has been proposed to provide the strips with marginal rows of holes and to provide on the writing machine wheels having pins for engaging in these marginal holes to feed the sheets. To provide these marginal rows of holes in the carbon strips requires that they be passed through a printing press or similar machine equipped with punching devices. This processing of the carbon strips increases their cost and hence the cost of the supplies needed for performing the work. Yet, it is necessary to keep the carbon strips in substantial register with the worksheet strips, for otherwise they may gradually work outwardly of the pile, in the feeding operations, or be actually jogged outwardly during the return movement of the carriage when used in a typewriter.

An object of the present invention is to provide means to maintain the worksheet strips and carbonsheet strips in proper registration without necessitating theprovision of the marginal se- 30 ries of holes in the carbonsheet strips.v

This is accomplished, in the form of the invention herein illustrated as exemplary thereof, by making the carbonsheet strips slightly narrower than the worksheet strips and providing means at the introductory side of the platen and close thereto for separately guiding the worksheet strips and the relatively narrower carbonsheet strips, and also arranging the pin wheels, the holes in the worksheet strips and the marginal edges of the carbonsheet strips, so that the carbonsheet strips are held against appreciable lateral movement by the side edges of the pins. Thus, according to the present invention, the worksheet strips and carbonsheet strips are introduced to the platen in proper relative positions and are maintained in such relative positions by the pins on the pin wheels engaging through the holes in the worksheet strips and engaging by their edges the side margins of the carbonsheet strips.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing, which shows one form of the invention, that at present preferred- Figure '1 is a sectional side view of part of a carriage of a typewriting machine, showing the device of the present invention applied thereto, and also showing a pack of stationery for use with the machine.

Fig. 2 is a front View of the carriage of a typewriting machine with the strips torn away to show more clearly the manner in which the guide at the introductory side of the platen functions.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing the manner in which the pins engage the side margins of the carbonsheet strips to hold the latter against lateral movement relatively to the platen and to the worksheet strips with which they are interleaved.

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the lateral guides for the worksheet strips and the carbonsheet strips at the introductory side of the platen, the thicknesses of the strips being exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the point.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing the construction of'the lateral guide for the carbonsheet strip.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 of a modification of the device shown in Fig. 4. As shown in the accompanying drawing, the present invention is applied to a typewriting machine having a, platen 10 for supporting worksheet strips .11 and carbonsheet strips 12 in position to be engaged by type bars 13 which, as indicated, swing upwardly and rearwardly against the front face of the platen to imprint characters on the upermost worksheet strip 11 by means of a ribbon 14 and to cause those characters to be duplicated on the under strips 11 by the carbonsheet strips 12, one of which is provided for each of the under worksheet strips 11. The platen 10 is mounted in a carriage 15 adapted to travel to and fro in letter-space direction. In the form shown, the carriage slides on a square shaft 16 passing through the center of the platen 10 and serving to rotate the platen when it is rotated and has a rear guide 1'7 upon which it rides.

The carriage 15 has a paper table 15a. at the introductory side of the platen for guiding worksheets thereto and the forward part of the table has an apron 151) which holds the work to the 100 platen.

The worksheet strips 11 usually contain a succession of printed forms having delineated spaces 18 in which indicia is to be written. Due to the proximity and restricted area of the spaces 18, 105 it is imperative that all the worksheet strips 11 be maintained in accurate registration, so that indicia written in the delineated space of one strip will be located entirely within the corresponding delineated space of the other strips.

To maintain this desired registration, it has previously been proposed that, as shown in the accompanying drawing, the worksheet strips 11 be provided with holes 19, arranged in succes- Ision forming rows extending longitudinally of the strips and at the side margin 20 thereof. The holes 19 are adapted to be engaged by pins 21 carried by wheels 22 secured to the platen 10 so as to rotate therewith. In the feeding operation, the pins 21 being engaged with some of the holes 19 advance the strips coincidently with the rotation of the platen, and as the pins one after another engage succeeding holes at the introductory side of the platen, due to their tapered ends 23, they bring the strips into accurate registration and positively advance all of the strips together without any danger of slippage between them. The paper apron 15b holds the worksheets close to the platen and the pin wheels so that .the pins will extend through the holes 19. The paper apron 15b is slotted at 150 to permit rotation of the pin wheels without interference of the apron with the pins.

Were the carbonsheet strips 12 similarly provided with holes, they too would be held in the desired relation to the worksheet strips 11. But, to thus prepare the carbonsheet strips it would be required that they be passed through a machine which would punch the holes in the side margins and this would add cost to the pack or roll of stationery.

To avoid this, the present invention provides means for guiding and controlling the positions of the carbonsheet strips so that they are maintained in the desired location-between the worksheet strips without requiring that they be provided with these rows of marginal holes.

This is accomplished by the present invention by accurately and positively guiding the carbonsheet strips by their side edges both at the platen and at a point at the introductory side of and close to the platen.

The means for accomplishing the last-named function in the form shown herein, comprises a frame 24 having side plates 25 between which are secured guide rods 26 over which both the worksheet strips 11 and the carbonsheet strips 12 ride, one strip engaging each rod. The frame 24 is pivotally mounted in arms 27 forming part of the carriage 15, and this in done by extending one of the rods 26 from the side plates 25 to the arms 2'7 of the carriage. This mounting of the frame permits the latter to swing'and assume the most natural position for guiding the strips. In loading the machine, the strips 11 and 12 are lead from a pack P supported on a table or other convenient device and the strips are sep arated with one strip only passing over each rod 26.

In the form shown, the worksheet strips 11 are guided by directly engaging with their side edges 20 the inside surfaces of the plates 25, and thus are kept in accurate alignment with each other. fne carbonsheet strips 12, however, which, for reasons stated below, are narrower than the worksheet strips, engage with their side edges 1211 against guiding .blocks 28 placed between the rods 26 which lie above and below the carbon strip 12. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the guides 28 are each provided with a hole 29 to receive the lowermost of the pair of rods and a semi-circular notchf30 to receive the upper rod. The guide 28 is held in adjusted position by a set screw 31 carried by the guide and engaging .-the lowermost rod. These guides 28 are of substantial thickness so that they present a broad surface to the side edge 12a of the carbon strip.

As stated, and as is customary, the worksheets are guided and held in accurate alignment at the platen by the engagement of the pins 21 on the pin wheels 22 with the marginal holes 19 in the worksheet strips. To guide the carbonsheets and prevent them from shifting transversely at the platen, the present invention makes the carbonsheet strips 12 of such width or places the pins 21 in such position (according towhich change is most convenient or desirable) that the side edges 12a of the carbonsheet strips 12 are in po sition to be engaged by the inside edges 21a of the pins 21, as shown in Fig. 3. The pins 21 thus hold the carbonsheets 12 captive between the worksheets at the platen and should a carbonsheet tend to skew or to creep sidewise during the rotation of the platen, the pins 21 will cam or guide them back into position.

Of course, it is not absolutely essential that the distances between the side edges 12a of the carbon strip and between the inner edges 21a of the pins, be absolutely the same, but it is preferable that they be substantially the same leaving only such clearance between the edges 12a of the carbon strip and the edges 21a, of the pins as is necessary or expedient to compensate for variations in the manufacture of the parts and paper. The space, however, between the side edge 12a of the carbon strip and the inner edge 21a of the pin must not be .so great as to permit substantial movement of the carbon sheet, for otherwise should the sheets skew for some reason between the guides 28 and the .point where the pins 21 engage the worksheet strips, the carbon strip might overlie the apertures 19 in the worksheet strip and be pierced by the pins. The danger of this occurring is mitigated toa great extent by the provision of the guide blocks 28 for the carbonsheets at the introductory side of the platen and taken together with the side edges of the pins 21 have been found in practice to keep the car bonsheet strip well confined and against lateral movement relatively to the worksheet strips.

After the strips 11 have been fed around the platen by the pin-wheels 22, they are stripped from the pins by a plate 31 at the delivery side of the platen. The plate 31 has slots 32 through which the pins pass to lift thepaper from the pins as the platen is rotated, the paper being forced to travel upwardly along the plate.

The carbon and worksheet strip controlling means of the present invention 'is extremely advantageous, particularly in connection with automatic or telegraph typewriters which frequently operate for relatively long periods without being observed by an operator.

The frame 24, instead of being arranged so that the side edges 20 of the worksheet strips engage the plates 25, may, as shown in Fig. 6, have other blocks 28a for guiding the worksheet strips and these may be adjustable as in the case of the blocks 28.

From the above, it will be seen that the proper relationship between the pins 21 and the side edges 12a of the carbonsheet strips may be obtained by either changing the positions of the pins or making the carbonsheet strips wider, that is, changing the machine or the pack of stationery. Accordingly, the present invention contemplates and embraces not only the mechanism but also a manifolding pile wherein the side edges of the carbonsheet strips are tangent to the holes of the adjacent rows of holes in the worksheet strips.

The manifolding pack disclosed herein forms the subject-matter of my application Serial No. 401,897, filed October 23, 1929, which is a division of this application.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to obtain Letters Patent, is:-

1. Means for maintaining worksheet strips and separate carbonsheet strips in desired registration while being introduced to a platen in a writing machine comprising a frame-having means for separating the worksheet, strips and the carbonsheet strips, lateral guides for engaging the side edges of the Worksheet strips to hold them in registration, and separate lateral guides inwardly removed from the first-named lateral guides for engaging the side edges of the carbonsheet strips and holding them in alignment with each other and in desired registration with the worksheet strips.

2. Means for maintaining worksheet strips and structurally separate carbonsheet strips in desired registration while being passed through a writing machine comprising a frame at the introductory side of the platen having means for separating the worksheet strips and carbonsheet strips, lateral guides for engaging the side edges of the worksheet strips to hold them in registration, and separate lateral guides inwardly removed from the first-named lateral guides for engaging the side edges of the carbonsheet strips and holding them in alignment with each other and in desired registration with the worksheet strips, and pin-wheels at the platen having pins engaging marginal rows of holes in the worksheet strips to thereby hold the latter in registration, and having said pins so located relative to the edges of the carbonsheet strips that the inner edges of the pins are located in close proximity to the side edges of the carbon strips so as to prevent appreciable lateral movement of the carbonsheet strips relative to the platen and to the worksheet strips.

3. In a writing machine having a platen, means for maintaining continuous worksheet strips and separate continuous carbonsheet strips in desired relation while being introduced to a platen said means comprising a frame at the introductory side of the platen, guide rods mounted on said frame, and separate lateral guides carried by said frame for the worksheet strips and the carbonsheet strips, certain of said guides being adjustable with relation to the other guides.

4. In a writing machine having a platen, means for maintaining continuous worksheet strips and separate continuous carbonsheet strips in desired relation while being introduced to the platen, said means comprising a frame, a set of lateral guides for the worksheet strips carried by the frame, and a separate set of lateral guides for the carbonsheet strips also carried by the frame.

5. In a writingmachine having a platen,-means for maintaining continuous worksheet strips and separate continuous carbonsheet strips in desired relation while being introduced to the platen, said means comprising a frame, a set of lateral guides for the worksheet strips carried by the frame, and a separate set of lateral guides for the carbonsheet strips also carried by the frame, the set of lateral guides for the carbonsheet strips being adjustable relatively to the set of guides for the worksheet strips.

6. In a writing machine having a platen, means for maintaining continuous worksheet strips and separate continuous carbonsheet strips in desired relation while being introduced to the platen, said means comprising a frame, a set of lateral guides for the worksheet strips carried by the frame, and a separate set of lateral guides for the carbonsheet strips also carried by the frame and being adjustable relative to each other.

7. In a writing machine having a platen for supporting continuous worksheet strips and separate continuous carbonsheet strips; feeding means for the strips comprising pin-Wheels having pins engaging marginal rows of holes in the worksheet strips to thereby hold the latter in registration and in predetermined position on the platen, said carbonsheet strips having their side edges fitting snugly between the pins of the pin-wheels to be guided by the pins against lateral movement; means at the introductory side of the platen for guiding the worksheet strips and holding the same against lateral movement; and means at the introductory side of the platen for guiding the carbonsheet strips and holding the same against lateral movement.

8. In a writing machine having a platen for supporting a pile of strips in writing position, some of said strips being narrower than others; guiding means at the introductory side of the platen for separately guiding said wide and narrow strips against lateral movement; 'and means at the platen for separately guiding said wide and narrow strips against lateral movement.

9. In a Writing machine having a platen for supporting a pile of strips in writing position, certain of said strips having margins projecting beyond other strips and having in said margins rows of holes; pin-wheels having pins for engaging the holes in said wider strip to hold the same in registration, the narrower strips having their side edges fitting snugly between edges of the pin-wheels to be held thereby against lateral shifting movement relative to the strips having the pin-wheel holes; and means at the introductory side of the platen for separately guiding each of said wide and narrow strips against lateral movement.

CARL W. BRENN. 

